The best chess openings for White

White starts with a small edge, and the numbers show it at every level. In master databases White scores around 54-55%: one large New In Chess sample found 54.1% after 1.e4 and 56.1% after 1.d4. Online it is a little lower. A March 2025 Lichess study of opening scores across rating ranges found White scores about 52% at every level, with "little difference between the most common first moves".

So no first move wins by force or loses by force. What changes your results is the opening you build on top of the first move, and how well you know its plans.

The table below uses every rated Lichess game from September 2023 to August 2026, as compiled by TrueElo. "Score" counts a win as 1 point and a draw as half a point, from White's side. Anything above 52% beats White's usual average.

The Scotch is the most consistent: White scores 53-55% in every rating band from 1000 to 2500+. It opens the centre at once with 3.d4, so the ideas are clear and you rarely get a closed, confusing middlegame.

The Queen's Gambit scores best at club level, about 54.9% between 1000 and 1199 and 54.7% between 1200 and 1399. Many players below 1600 do not know how to meet 2.c4 well. The Vienna does the opposite: it climbs from 51.6% under 1000 to 56.0% at 2500+, so it rewards players who know its sharper lines.

The Italian is the most played White opening on Lichess, with 135 million games. Its score is closer to average, about 52%, but it is the easiest to learn and teaches development and king safety. If you are under 1200, it is still one of the best places to start.

The London System is hugely popular, but the numbers are less kind. In the common line where Black plays a ...g6 setup, White scores under 50% at every level below 1800 (46.2% under 1000) and only does well above that. It is solid, but it does not win games on its own.

Scotch Game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4. Your knight sits in the centre and you develop fast with Be3, Nc3 and Bc4 or Bd3. Black usually answers with 4...Bc5 or 4...Nf6.

Queen's Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. You put pressure on d5. If the centre pawns are exchanged (cxd5 exd5), a common plan is the minority attack: push b4-b5 to give Black a weak pawn on the queenside. Watch out for the Elephant Trap: after 4...Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5, taking 6.Nxd5?? loses a piece to 6...Nxd5! 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8.

Ruy Lopez: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O. You pressure the e5 pawn and later build a centre with c3 and d4. Do not grab material carelessly: in the Noah's Ark Trap (4...d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4?? c5 9.Qd5 Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 11.Qd5 c4) Black traps your bishop on b3.

Italian Game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3. This slow setup (the Giuoco Pianissimo) is easy to play: castle, then expand with a4, Re1 and Nbd2-f1-g3. If Black plays 3...Nf6 instead, 4.Ng5 attacks f7, and 4...d5 5.exd5 Nxd5? allows the Fried Liver Attack with 6.Nxf7.

Vienna Game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3. White often follows with Bc4 or f4 (the Vienna Gambit) and attacks on the kingside. English Opening: 1.c4, usually with Nc3, g3 and Bg2. You control d5 from the side instead of occupying the centre with pawns.

If you like open, tactical games, play 1.e4 and pick the Scotch or the Vienna. If you prefer slow pressure and pawn structure, play 1.d4 with the Queen's Gambit. If you want to avoid your opponents' preparation, the English (1.c4) gives a flexible game with a solid 52.8% score.

Then stay with it. A 1-2% edge in a database is tiny next to the edge you get from knowing your opening's typical plans and middlegames from hundreds of your own games.

Database averages tell you what works for everyone. Your own games tell you what works for you. AuditChess is the best free tool for this job: paste your Chess.com or Lichess username and its opening tree ranks every White line you play by your real score, and shows where you lose points. Fix the leaks it finds and your rating will follow.